When Writers Turn to Self-Promotion, Nobody Wins

Memoirist Toby Young, eager to capitalize on that whole viral video thing, seems to have posted a "book signing gone wrong" video on YouTube to promote his second title, The Sound of No Hands Clapping. We're not poo-pooing the man's attempt to self-promote online; we're just a little disappointed that he wrote a fucking sketch (of the predictable "everyone hates me" theme, no less) and put it out there as if it were a video of an actual incident. And we're disappointed in ourselves for picking it up and sharing it.

But there's a lesson here: this is precisely why, when you sign your deal to write a memoir about that summer you worked at the Gap, you will demand that your publisher hire an out-of-house publicist. Self-promotion rarely works when your audience is embarrassed for you.